Smokestack Lightning: Complete Chess Masters [Box set]

Howlin' Wolf | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 24, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Hip-O Select
• ASIN: B005JLN9V2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,308 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Moanin' At Midnight

2. How Many More Years (alternate)*

3. How Many More Years

4. The Wolf Is At Your Door (Howlin' For My Baby)

5. California Boogie*

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. I'm Not Joking

2. Mama Died And Left Me

3. All Night Boogie (All Night Long)

4. I Love My Baby

5. Highway My Friend

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Break Of Day

2. The Natchez Burning

3. Going Back Home*

4. Bluebird

5. My Life

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. I'm Leaving You (alternate take)*

2. I'm Leaving You (takes 7-10)*

3. I'm Leaving You

4. Can't Put Me Out (alternate)*

5. Can't Put Me Out (alternate)

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

One of the great blues songbooks is to be found right here-as well as many of the most potent, Earth-shaking performances in blues or any other music. Willie Dixon penned many of these 97 tracks, and Chester Burnett (a.k.a. Howlin' Wolf) played, sang and screamed them into the history books and the record collections of countless future bluesmen and rockers. A 45-page booklet full of rare photos and probing profiles of Wolf's years in Memphis and Chicago joins his hits How Many More Years; Moanin' at Midnight; Who Will Be Next; Smoke Stack Lightning , and I Asked for Water plus The Wolf Is At Your Door; Dorothy Mae; Saddle My Pony; My Last Affair; All Night Boogie (All Night Long); California Blues Nos. 1 & 2; Crazy About You Baby; You Gonna Wreck My Life; Evil; So Glad; I've Been Abused; Mr. Airplane Man; Break of Day; My Life; Back Door Man; Nature; Poor Boy , and more including a whole lotta alternate takes!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 76 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars More addictive than morphine October 27, 2011

By Standard Poodle

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I would doubt anyone reading this would need an introduction to Wolf and his life. Since that info is available in many places, I will skip to the review of this package.

If you want everything, you will need both Bear Family sets and the one on Ace. I am certain someone will give this one star for that, but that is not the claim here at all; it is "Chess Masters".

Sound quality is great. However, the Japanese reissues are the very best. We're splitting hairs here, and the Japanese ones are very expensive, so I heartily recommend this one. You are not really losing anything . . .

There are alternate takes and studio chatter here, including: "Hubert, turn your amp down!". The alternate takes are great and a real treat - I only wish there were more.

These are the really raw Wolf sides: beginning with the Memphis recordings; hitting the early, rawest Chicago recordings; and ending with, as the compiler states: "Hubert Sumlin coming into his own." On the bulk of these sides, you get wildly distorted guitar, intense harmonica, crazy piano and crazy drums. I recall Greil Marcus writing something like: "Wolf's best records come on like a three minute race-riot" and these sides bear that out. I believe Robert Palmer wrote that "Wolf's band always sounds like it is about to rupture" - again, an accurate description. It is that very tension that makes these sides so compelling.

Have you noticed that when you hear a cover of Wang Dang Doodle, the band always does the Koko Taylor version? Know why? Wolf's can't be played by earthlings! Most Wolf songs defy "copy-catting".

It's not just his voice, which is inimitable (but that does not stop folks from trying). Try "I'll be Around" and see if you can find someone to do THAT. Wolf's voice defies superlatives - that "growl" can put across any emotion.

It is also the bands. When you hear a Wolf cover, the bands can almost never get the same feel as the original - even on what seems like a basic shuffle or slow blues. I understand the argument that Wolf could make any backing band sound good (his voice and harp are THAT good) but the bands he used in his prime were all inventive and quite unique. The result is exquisite.

Honest appraisal: if you are new to the Wolf, buy a cheaper collection first. I am certain you'll want more. Heck, the folks that put this out should give away a five song sampler to get listeners hooked (you know - the first one's free and then we got you!)

The packaging is much better than the Little Walter, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry releases; I know that has been an issue. This one should hold up for the duration.

I could live happily with this as the only cd in my collection. I go through times where I only want to hear Wolf, and this set has set another "Wolf-constantly" period into motion. There is not a weak track here and I am signing off to go listen in the car.

When can we get the 60's era box?

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "...Well Don't You Hear Me Cryin'..." November 22, 2011

By Mark Barry, Reckless Records, London TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

This rather lovely 'book-shaped' set is the first in a series of CD retrospectives documenting Chester Arthur Burnette (his real name) and his stay at the legendary Blues label 'Chess'. There's an awful lot of Howlin' Wolf to document here, so let's get to the details...

Released Monday 21 November 2011 in the UK (September 2011 in the USA) on Hip-O Select/Geffen/Universal B0015309-2 - "Smokestack Lightning - The Complete Chess Masters 1951-1960" is a 97-Track 4CD Book Set and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1, 26 Tracks, 1951 to 1953 (73:08 minutes):
Tracks 2, 5, 6, 17, Previously Unreleased In The USA
Tracks 8, 9, 13, 14, 18 and 21 first released on the 1994 US 2CD compilation "Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog" on Chess CD2-9349
Tracks 15 and 20 first released on the 1991 US 3CD Box Set "Howlin' Wolf - The Chess Box" on Chess CD3-9332
Tracks 24 to 26 are 1953 Mono recordings 1st released on the 1966 USA LP "More Real Folk Blues" on Chess LP 1512
I've provided all other track info in the 'comment' section attached to this review as well as a 78". 7" and LP Discography

Disc 2, 27 Tracks, 1953 to 1956 (73:42 minutes):
Tracks 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, and first released on the 1994 US 2CD compilation "Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog" on Chess CD2-9349
Tracks 2, 7, 10, and first released on the 1991 US 3CD Box Set "Howlin' Wolf - The Chess Box" on Chess CD3-9332
Tracks 13, 14 and are 1954 Mono recordings 1st released on the 1966 USA LP "More Real Folk Blues" on Chess LP 1512
Other track info - see 'comment' section attached to this review

Disc 3, 25 Tracks, 1956 to 1958 (76:41 minutes):
Tracks 1 first released on the 1993 US 4CD Box Set by Various Artists called "Chess Blues" on Chess CHD4-9340
Tracks 4, 6, 12, 14, 15, 17 and 25 first released on the 1994 US 2CD compilation "Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog" on Chess CD2-9349
Tracks 9, 11, 19, 20, 22* and 25* Previously Unreleased In The USA
[Track 22 includes Chess single 1726; Track 25 includes Alternate Take on "Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog" 2CD set on Chess CHD2-9349]
Other track info - see 'comment' section attached to this review

Disc 4, 19 Tracks, 1958 to 1960 (68:50 minutes):
Tracks 1, 2, 5, 9 and 11 Previously Unreleased In The USA
Track 4 first released on the 1982 US 2LP set "Chess Blues Rarities" on Chess CH2-9230
Track 15 first released on the 1991 US 3CD Box Set "Howlin' Wolf - The Chess Box" on Chess CD3-9332
Tracks 6, 8, 13 (with Outtakes Dialogue) and 14 first released on the 1994 US 2CD compilation "Ain't Gonna Be Your Dog" on Chess CD2-9349
Other track info - see 'comment' section attached to this review

The hardback book packaging matches the look and feel of the MUDDY WATERS "Hoochie Coochie Man..." Hip-O Select 2CD set of 2004 (not as wide, but it's taller). "Smokestack Lightning..." has an embossed matt cardboard effect on the front cover with similarly textured pages within and is a non-numbered worldwide Limited Edition of 5000 copies. The 42-page booklet inside has an essay on Wolf (Pages 3 to 9) by PETER GURALNICK who is the award-winning Author of 2 books on Sam Cooke and Elvis Presley - with a forthcoming Biography on Sam Phillips. In fact Guralnick's entry here is a highly personal interview with SAM PHILLIPS on how the legendary and visionary Producer of Sun Records first tried to record the great bluesman and his band in 1951. Phillips warmly remembers the sheer impact of Wolf's powerhouse of a voice and physical presence (6' 3", 275 Pounds). Sam is full of passion and awe for the man who sang "...with his damn soul..." - bowled over even now - some 60 years after the event.

Not to be outdone, the liner notes on the project itself by DICK SHUMAN on Pages 11 to 19 are equally entertaining as they concentrate on the key musicians and recording dates. I particularly love the page that pictures "The New 708 Club" card invite for the Chicago Blues Club that tells you - you can see Muddy Waters on Mon, Wed and Thurs with Otis Rush on Fri, Sat and Sun but Howlin' Wolf is only available on Tues! Now there's a week of Blues gigs I want to attend! Pages 20 to 42 picture Trade Adverts, Black & White photos of his group, photos of his rare "Moanin' In The Moonlight" album from 1958 (front and rear) and end on a full track-by-track Discography. The 4CDs are held in individual leaves at the back - each disc colour scheme reflecting the original shellac and vinyl labels (Blue and White for the 78's - Blue and Silver for the famous Chess 45's).

As with so much of the enormous Chess catalogue - the remastering has been carried out by one of Universal's top engineers ERICK LABSON - a man with over 900 mastering and audio restoration credits to his name. This stuff is ROUGH - brutal even in places - and the remaster brings out that raw power. Some of the alternate takes are very crackly - but he has allowed them to breath and there's huge presence in every track. Most of the songs on Disc 1 to 3 are self-penned like the staggering "Smoke Stack Lightning" (lyrics above), but by the time we get to the tail end of Disc 4 the catalyst of WILLIE DIXON arrives - sending everything into the stratosphere ("Spoonful" and "Wang Dang Doodle"). The combo of Wolf's voice and Dixon's witty tunes will undoubtedly dominate Volume 2.

Niggles - the packaging is lovely, but it's over too soon. Very few 78's or 45's are pictured and you can't help thinking that if Bear Family or Ace had handled this - it would be twice the size and truly beautiful in every way. And musically - the repetition of tracks and takes is hard to take - so a "Best Of" would suffice for the merely curious (or even a Willie Dixon set with HW tracks on it). Die-hard fans, however, of Howlin' Wolf, Chess Records and the Blues in general will have to own this.

To sum up - despite the 'slightly' disappointing packaging - this is a classy reminder of a genuine force of nature - a singer who shaped so much of what we still listen to - and whose influence can still be felt to this day. And if you want to know why so many white rock guys worshipped at his feet and regularly tried to kiss the hem of his garment - here is the place to start...

Like Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and Muddy Waters - how I wished I'd seen this giant live...

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Smokestack Lightning Complete Chess Masters March 18, 2012

By D. Smith

Format:Audio CD

While this is an esssential set of Wolf's early recordings,The Bihari Brothers based in Los Angeles,had their Modern-RPM labels and also got songs from Sam Phillips just as the Chess Brothers did in Chicago and they were both very interested in Howlin Wolf.Of course Chess did sign him and and had so many classic songs recorded in Chicago,if Wolf had gone with Modern..music history might be very different.
Yes these are complete for the Chess label,but Wolf's recordings sold to Modern-RPM aren't on this release.Sam Phillips sold songs to both Chess and Modern-RPM in the early 50's before Wolf was signed to Chess and left Memphis for Chicago.
"Howling Wolf Sings The Blues" on the Ace label is just as essential,raw and rockin stuff from 1951-1952,it was released in 2004 and great sound."House Rockin Boogie" and "Keep What You Got" alone are worth the price of the CD..a perfect companion to this set..check it out!